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T O P I C R E V I E W

Ross

In early December 2007, 1200 covers were placed inside a special protective bag which was placed aboard the ATV and flown into space. It was then returned to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle (STS-126) which landed at Edwards Air Force Base.

On 4 February 2009, the Cargo Transport Bag (CTB) was finally removed from the Leonardo MPLM and franked at its final destination, Kennedy Space Center. The covers were then placed in plastic pouches and mounted on a specially designed document.

A really nice item and definitely collectable. See the Space Unit site for a picture of the cover and further details.

cspg

How come the ATV graphic displayed on the space-unit web site differs (it's on the left of the cover) from the one that is displayed on Espace Lollini (it's on the right)?.

Ross

The one on the Space Unit page is definitely correct as I own it. I can only assume that the covers are not consistent as to where the ATV graphic has been placed! Will be interesting to see how varied they are.

Robert Pearlman

Espace Lollini has updated their page with a cover that now match the style shown on the Space Unit's website.

Ross

I wonder if they saw this thread or the Space Unit site. Still leaves the question as to the reason for the original difference. I might email them out of interest.

Robert Pearlman

They said they received quite a few inquiries on the topic (most likely triggered by this thread). They also provided a few more tidbits:

Most (at least 800) of the covers were gifted to the people working at the different European aerospace companies.

The distribution was tracked by EADS, the company behind the construction of the ATV.

A limited number of the covers were autographed and the ISS on-board octagonal blue ink stamp applied. Those with autographs were dedicated to named persons and museums (including one for the Jules Verne Museum in Amiens, France).

cspg

quote:Originally posted by Ross:I wonder if they saw this thread or the Space Unit site. Still leaves the question as to the reason for the original difference. I might email them out of interest.

I did email them (Lollini) about the apparent discrepancy between the covers and they've told me that they'll make the necessary changes- apparently already done. They also said that the ATV logo appears in different places.

eurospace

There is also another type of flown cover/card, produced ERNO Philatelie stamp club at the EADS plant at Bremen/Germany.

Robert Pearlman

EADS Astrium release (March 6, 2009)

Back in Bremen after a 177 million kilometre journey. Astrium's philatelists send cards and envelopes to the ISS

The cards and envelopes that arrived in Bremen in Germany on Thursday 5 March have completed the longest journey ever made by post -- 177,296,265 kilometres to be precise. A total of 1,200 'first day cover' envelopes and 550 cards began their voyage at the beginning of 2008 on board the supply Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) 'Jules Verne' supply craft en route for the International Space Station (ISS).

Under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA), Astrium is responsible for the operation and exploitation of the European segments of the ISS, which includes the preparation and execution of the ATV missions. The ATV supplies the ISS not only with fuel, gas and water, but also with clothing, food and scientific instruments for the crew. As it can carry a payload of 9.5 tonnes, the 4.5 kilos of cards and envelopes did not weigh heavily in the balance. The 550 cards will now remain in Bremen while the 1,200 envelopes will go on to Astrium's St-Medard-en-Jalles site near Bordeaux in France.

Luc Delmon, President of the philately association La Marianne travelled to Bremen especially for the reception ceremony. Helmut Luttmann, Astrium's Head of ISS operation and exploitation handed the cards and envelopes over to Mr Delmon and Ulrich Bremer, a management committee member of the ERNO-Philatelie association.

A dozen of the letters had the privilege of being signed and postmarked on board the ISS by Russian astronauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergei Volkov.

"It is a great honour to give these letters to the philatelists of Astrium," declared Helmut Luttmann. "They constitute the only remaining element of the ATV Jules Verne." Currently, production of the second ATV, named 'Johannes Kepler', is making good progress. This second ATV mission will be launched in the second half of 2010, and mission preparation is in full swing. "Johannes Kepler is already almost complete," said Mr Luttmann.

The first day cover cards and envelopes have been through a true odyssey. Astrium's ATV cargo manager Rachid Amekrane was very keen for this special mail to make the journey and return to Bremen intact. After undergoing a whole battery of tests - just as all items transported to the space station - the mail was transferred to Turin in Italy for further inspection, sterilisation and packing in a Cargo Transfer Bag, then on to the European spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana. They were finally loaded onto the ATV Jules Verne which left Earth on 9 March 2008 on board an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The documents remained inside the ATV until August 2008, and were unloaded just shortly before de-docking. The ATV then began its controlled re-entry into the terrestrial atmosphere, where it disintegrated. As for the cards and envelopes, they made the return journey on 30 November with the American space shuttle 'Endeavour', when it returned from its STS-126 mission after some 4,200 orbits around the Earth. This time the shuttle landed not in Florida but at the Edwards Airbase in California. On 12 December it was returned to Florida on board a Boeing 747 which has been specially fitted out to carry the space shuttles. It was not until 3 March 2009 that the 'space mail' arrived back in Bremen. "No exceptions were made for the first day cover items. All the security measures applicable to manned flights had to be complied with. Nevertheless, we did benefit from the invaluable support of ESA, the astronauts and NASA," explained Rachid Amekrane as he opened the packet.

Credit: EADS Astrium

cspg

Thanks for pointing this one out.

This is indeed a really nice item - a bit pricey for me, special thanks to the Swiss customs - +$30 worth of taxes, VAT and the like, but that's life...

daveblog

After waiting to hear back for a month or more, I was able to receive confirmation and pay for one of these covers earlier today. It will be a nice addition to my space flown collection.

cosmos-walter

ATV flown covers are franked with 2008 flag stamps. There are two varieties of each value: One has bright colours, the other one is pastel coloured. Is one of those varieties scarcer or are both very common?

Tom

Does ESA plan on having covers fly aboard ATV-2 "Johannes Kepler," scheduled for launch to ISS next month?

eurospace

Tom, this can not be excluded.

Tom

Anyone know if ATV-2 carried commemorative covers that will be returned on STS-135, or perhaps already returned on STS-134?

MrSpace86

I guess there were some carried on ATV-2 and returned on STS-135. Spaceflori had one for sale; I am unable to find any more info though.

Tom

I wouldn't be surprised if there were also some type of covers or cards carried aboard ATV-3 which will be returned by the first fully commercial spacecraft — Dragon.

cosmos-walter

The covers flown to ISS with ATV-2 returned to earth with STS-135.

cspg

Got mine from Lollini.

eurospace

quote:Originally posted by MrSpace86:I am unable to find any more info though.

Umberto Cavallaro from the Italian astrophilatelists' association ASITAF has written an interesting article on the topic of flown ATV mail. It appeared in the recent edition of their newsletter, both in Italian as in English.

I have also just finished a German translation of his manuscript, to appear in the next edition of Weltraum Philatelie's magazine.